We hoped this day would never come! ‘The Vampire Diaries’ returns from winter hiatus on Jan. 22, and the anticipation has been slowly eating away at our souls. Thankfully, star Paul Wesley has some scoop on what we can expect!

Is The Vampire Diaries wrapping up for good? Don’t worry, it isn’t, but ahead of the series return on Jan. 22, Paul Wesley, who of course plays Stefan, revealed how he’d like to see the series end. Spoiler alert, what he said might break your heart!

‘The Vampire Diaries’: Paul Wesley Wants Stefan Dead

The CW has made us wait long enough! The Vampire Diaries is finally returning from winter hiatus, and we could not be more excited. Prior to the premiere, Paul sat down with People to reveal some surprising insight on the show and his wishes for Stefan.

Though it’s not leaving us anytime soon (phew!), when asked how he’d like to see the series end, “I think Elena (Nina Dobrev) should go back to being human, if that’s at all humanly [possible],” Paul said. “I think Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan, to be honest with you, I think they’ve had a long run. I think that maybe when the show ends, they should sort of end as well. I don’t mean to be morbid, but they’ve been around for 160 years – I think they’ve had their fun. I think that would be a really poetic ending to the story.”

Being poetic is overrated — you can’t die, Stefan!

Paul Answers The Hard Questions

Paul of course, is directing the episode that airs on Jan. 22, and he had the chance to reflect on that — it was his second time behind the camera.

“I found myself to be a lot more relaxed and a lot more confident about it,” he said. “For obvious reasons, because I had done it once before, but also because I got a little lucky this episode. I had no location shots, so I didn’t have to worry about daylight, I didn’t have to worry about weather … it was technically an easier shoot, and I was in love with the script. It was amazing, and I just got really fortunate. I was also working with a new director of photography – they’re both amazing – and I just realized, you know, a lot of directing is trusting your DP, and the experience really helped me.”

“I think a lot of it is because directing is such a … you have to rely so heavily on the actors, and so, your episode is going to suck unless the actors really nail their performances and so I found myself really having to connect with the actors and understand where they’re coming from and really emotionally connect with them, and people respond to that,” he said.